Jenn, I am completely sold on both stationery bike and outside bike riding. I do spinning (in a club--I don't own a stationery bike) three times per week for aerobic exercise and have reaped numerous health benefits from it. I also ride outdoors, weather permitting, to get moderate exercise (around the neighborhood) or endurance work (long distance rides). So my recommendation to you is to get both! As to what kind of bike to recommend, there are many factors that come to play. I suggest you go to two or three sports/bike shops in your area, check out their stock, and have a salesperson fit you to the bike. Explain what your needs are and note different types of bikes (racing, touring, etc) so you have a sense of the different weights, tire width, handlebar configurations, etc. You can get very few gears but if you are serious about cycling, especially indoors, you'll build up strength and endurance quickly and may very well want to try a longer-distance ride, a trail, a hill, etc--and then you will want gears. It does take a bit of learning, but not a great deal. Newer bikes are much easier to shift than older versions. Anyway, by the time you visit several shops and compare, you'll probably have a very good sense of what to purchase.

Very thought-provoking podcast awm, thanks! I was wondering about interval training. Has anyone tried Body for Life's 12-week program? It sounds very efficient. Cardio Warm up the first 2 minutes at Intensity Level 5 Minutes 2-3 move from Intensity Level 5 to 6 Minutes 4-5, 6-10 and 11-14 work your way from Intensity Level 6 to Level 9, maintain for one minute. Minutes 15-19 work your way from Intensity Level 6 to Level 10 (High Point at Level 10), maintain for one minute. Minute 20 cool down to Intensity Level 5 for one minute. Alternate weight-training and cardio workouts for six consecutive days and rest on the seventh day. Weight Training * Weight train intensely, three times per week on alternating days with aerobic * Workout exercise three times per week. Make sure to hit your "high points" during your workout. * Alternate training the major muscles of the upper and lower body. * Perform two exercises for each major muscle group of the upper body. * Select one exercise and conduct five sets with it, starting with a set of 12 reps, then increasing the weight and doing 10 reps, adding more weight and doing 8 reps, adding more weight for 6 reps. Then reduce the weight and do 12 reps. Immediately perform another set of 12 reps for that muscle group using the second selected exercise. * For each muscle group, rest for one minute between the first four sets. Then complete the final two sets with no rest in between, wait two minutes before moving on to your next muscle group, complete this pattern five times for the upper body training experience and four times for the lower body training experience. -Lena

Usually the gel are more comfortable. Either check out a bike shop or a sporting goods store like Dick's, Academy, etc. Also, I forgot to mention you did a lot! Going from nothing to three hours I think would affect anyone. Over time as your body adjusts --your "sit bones"--you will do better. On my outdoor bike I have a women's seat which better accommodates women's anatomy. I use padded shorts for biking and Spin class, but if I didn't have the shorts I could still do it after all these years.

Great trip and at the best time of the year for that location. Northern Wisconsin and Upper Michigan tend to have a rainy season starting after May 15th and lasting through June 15th. However, this is not predictable; Each year is different. I live west of Milwaukee and have traveled roads in Illinois, I do have advice about potential routes from Missouri to Upper Michigan. I do not know which route you will be taking. The best route for a trip like this one is to explore and let the road take you to points of interest, an unplanned amble. I do have an aversion to certain locations when I'm on a pleasure trip. Listed below are places best avoided. Traveling from west to east through the heart of St. Louis to cross the Mississippi into Illinois. It can be congested, drivers ignoring the rules of the road, with potential for accident. 2. Chicago: Traveling south to north on the toll way. Yep, I94 is a tollway in Illinois from I80 north to the Wisconsin border. Avoid the morning and evening rush hours plus noon time. Sometimes, this route works and sometimes it does not. The best way to handle tolls here is to purchase a transponder at an Oasis or other locations. Go on-line and fill it with $20 to $40. This section of the tollway has high speed gates suspended over the road. The only rule is don't change lanes while passing through the gate. In the Chicago area, toll charges using the transponder is half of that for the manual gates. This is an I-Pass system and works for many other toll roads in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, etc. An e-mail notification is sent when the account runs low on cash. Also, you will be notified by e-mail when it is time to exchange the transponder. Apparently, it is battery powered and needs to be changed out when the battery runs low, or replaced by a revised unit. Typically, the unit we have lasts about 5 years. 3. Milwaukee can't seem to ever finish building an expressway before revising it. Summer is road construction season with lane closures. Almost every morning during rush hour, there is an accident in this system. Its assured if it rains or snows. With the above comments in mind, these are the routes I recommend. For passing trough St. Louis from the SW, bypass the city. If you are arriving via I-44, take the beltline, I-270, to the east and cross the river, then follow this road north to I-55/I-70. Of course, this will shunt you around the St. Louis Arch. If you wish to visit this item, you'll have to deal with the city. Travel northward on I-55 past Springfield and Lincoln to Bloomington. Here, decide if you will continue on I-55 to Chicago, or turn due north. I recommend due north on I-39 to Wisconsin. The main problem you'll have on this stretch is staying awake. There is very little food or fuel stops on this part and radio stations don't have decent music. Bring you own music if that is what you like while traveling. At Rockford, IL, I-39/US-51 blends into I-90. This part to the state line is tollway. A short distance north of the state line, turn NE onto I-43. This road will be uncongested until the outskirts of Milwaukee. Unless you are familiar with the local roads, there is not good way around Milwaukee, therefore, I'll plot a path keeping to the main highways with minimal road changes. When I-43 meets the beltline of the city, go east. It should be labeled i-43. At the east side of town, turn north. It should be labeled I-43. Stay on this to go north out of town and continue the trip. I-43 goes to Green Bay (Home of the Packers!). There, pickup US-41 to take you to Marinette, WI, and Menominee, Mich. Points of Interest: A. If you are interested in geology, this part of Wisconsin has features left over from the last glacier. Geologically speaking, it was not long ago, only about 10,000 to 11,000 years. These features are found in the South and North Kettle Moraine units. The best kettles, eskers, and kames are in the north unit. There good examples of drumlins where I live and I know the location of a crevasse fill. It is more rare than the other features. The western part of Wisconsin was not covered by the last glacier. B. Milwaukee County Zoo. This is a very good zoo. You can spend most of a day viewing the exhibits. C. Milwaukee Baseball Stadium. It has a retractable cover over the entire field with a heating system. D. Port Washington (north of Milwaukee). One hundred years ago, this was a fishing village. Today, its a quaint small town nestled by Lake Michigan with a marina catering to sport fishermen. It has restaurants in full view of the lake. Standard fare is Fish Fry on Friday nights. E. Sheboygan. The best sausage and bratwurst in Wisconsin are made here. F. Elkhart Lake. Road America Race Track. G. Green Bay. Home of the Green Bay Packers Football Team. H. Summer Fest Grounds. These grounds are located in downtown Milwaukee and on the Lake Front. Several weeks of the summer are filled with ethnic festivals. Irish Fest is one of the largest Irish festivals in the world. I. Cedarburg Covered Bridge. This bridge on Cedar Creek is the last remaining covered bridge in Wisconsin. There are a few other small covered bridges, but these are mostly late model props to attract clients. The Cedarburg bridge was open to traffic until 1961 when it was retired. Its unique feature is that no nails or bolts were used to hold the frame together. It is fastened with 2 inch dia. wood pegs. J. Oshkosh. EAA Air Museum with examples of old aircraft. Oshkosh airport is the location of the annual week long EAA Fly In and show. K. Milwaukee: Harley-Davidson Museum Menomonee Falls: Harley-Davidson Factory.